Bill Murray’s disastrous ‘Saturday Night Live’ return: “He wasn’t very nice to us”
Befitting its status as an American comedy institution, Saturday Night Live has been a proving ground for the next generation of comedy stars ever since it first hit the airwaves almost half a century ago, with Bill Murray, one of the show’s most famous sons.
A regular writer and performer between 1977 and 1980, it didn’t take long for the actor to conquer Hollywood after he spread his wings following his SNL departure and went on to find huge success in hit comedies like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, What About Bob?, and Groundhog Day.
Like many alumni before and after him, Murray has never forgotten where he came from and returned to SNL as a host on multiple occasions. In fact, he became just the second ex-cast member to join the illustrious ‘Five Timers Club’ after former nemesis Chevy Chase, but he hasn’t returned to his old stomping ground since his fifth and final stint as compere in February 1999.
As well as becoming a sardonic icon, the Academy Award nominee also has a habit of rubbing people the wrong way, with his behaviour when the cameras aren’t rolling leading to a series of high-profile disagreements, screaming matches, and feuds that have become a recurring feature of his decades-long stint in the spotlight.
He didn’t seem too enthused with the direction SNL was heading in the mid-1990s, anyway, after Rob Schneider shared the story of an ill-fated return that made it patently clear Murray wasn’t a fan of not only him but Chris Farley and Adam Sandler too. All three were fixtures of the show at the same time between 1990 and 1994, so Schneider could only have been referring to February 1993, when Murray swung by to host for a third time.
Either way, he was less than enthused with what he saw, with Schneider regaling The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show with his experience. “He’s super nice to fans. He wasn’t very nice to us,” Sandler’s regular collaborator said. “He hated us on Saturday Night Live when he hosted. Absolutely hated us. I mean, seething.”
Schneider claimed “he hated Chris Farley with a passion,” and he “really hated Sandler too,” although there were no specific reasons or explanations given as to why. Still, by drawing his own conclusions, the close friend and creative partner of both believed his disdain for Farley was born from the belief that “Chris thought it was cool to be Belushi” after Murray’s close relationship with the Blues Brothers star made him wary of any out-of-control and exuberant comedian with a well-known wild side.
“He was just seething looking at him,” was Schneider’s recollection of how Murray viewed Farley, whereas Sandler irritated him because “he just wasn’t into that groove” of how the future Hollywood power player approached his skits and segments. It wouldn’t be the first time in the world the SNL veteran has failed to hide his distaste for somebody, but it cut deeper on this occasion because all three were huge fans.
